Day 33

My hair is nice and bright! Freshly dyed. It makes me feel good!

It's Monday tomorrow, unfortunately. But I had a good day today, and did very little.

We were supposed to get more snow, but didn't.

My Game of Thones binge continues! I have until April 14th, which is plenty of time. Like I said on Facebook, I need to brush up on my Dothraki too. Elvish will always be my fictional language of choice, but Dothraki is harsh and guttural and fun.

"Anha zhilak yera norethaan." That's "I love you completely" in Dothraki. I tell Mose that every night.

And that's my blog for tonight! I promise to write better and longer blogs! I just.. I said "everyday" and I intend to follow that through. Even when I end up writing blogs like this one. It's just the principle of the thing!

Sarah

Day 32

I have no great ideas to blog about tonight, so I'm gonna tell you exactly where I sit, by what, and how I feel. Just me in the moment.

I am sitting on a battered black couch. It was rough when I got it, and cats' scratching has done it no favors. But it is comfortable and along with me, two cats sit on it, sleeping. My dog, Mose slumbers restlessly on the floor, constantly bothered with the sound coming off of Game of Thrones, Season One, episode 4. I am binge-watching! The next and final season of GoT premieres this April, and I've decided to rewatch the entire series before seeing the end. I talk endlessly about the series with some people I work with, and I want to keep everything sharp!

On the couch next to me is a heap of books and boxes and hoodies and jackets. The boxes are from a Christmas present from my sister, Pet Giftboxes. They send a box every month with toys and chewsticks and other cool stuff. There is a theme every month and this month was "Chewrassic World" and the toys were almost too cute to give to Mose.

To my left, I have a small table littered with cups and bottles and a bag full of Hershey's Kisses that my sister bought me. In front of me is an old trunk that used to be in my Grandmother's house that now serves as a coffee table. On it are several clocks to match the six hanging on the wall in front of me. There are also chewsticks and a tub of markers and pens and junk. There is another heap of books on this trunk, and about five heaps' worth of books on a bookshelf next to the table.

From where I sit I can see a bookshelf completely COVERED in geeky stuff, some of my favorite things I own. Figurines from GoT, Star Wars, the Big Bang Theory, Harry Potter, Fight Club, Supernatural, and the Boondock Saints. There are random statues and bottles I've collected. On the very bottom shelf is another heap of books. I proudly display letter openers shaped like blades from Lord of the Rings, next to several Harry Potter wands from two of my favorite characters, Snape and Sirius Black. Up on top is my collection of dragons.

The entire room I am in is covered in artwork, mine and other peoples'. That and books. Books everywhere. There is a baby-gate in the doorway that leads to my bedroom because Mose likes to sneak in there and chew on stuff. The cats just hop over it as they please.

Tonight I bleached the roots of my hair so tomorrow I can dye it brightly! I keep catching reflections of my hair and doing a double take. "Bleached" is not a look that I can pull off.

Have a happy Sunday!

Sarah

Day 31- LIES CATS TELL

Of course, every cat is different. But there are some similarities I think most pet (psshhh! They're wild) cats have. And those are lies that they tell us, their humans. I think even if you have never had cats before, you will find these to be true. What do you think?

• "I haven't eaten. In years." The MOST COMMON LIE of them all. You will hear this daily.
  
• "The red laser dot means nothing to me." Big fat lie. They are conditioned to listen even for the click of the laser, to find the red temptress and SMITE IT.
  
• "I would never tear around the house at 3:00 am." Indeed, 3 am is prime cat-craziness hours. They get this insane surge of energy and rip from one end of the house to the other, like kids play the "floor is lava" game and you do anything to NOT touch the floor. From chair to couch to table to countertop.
  
• "Hairballs are my gift to you." You may dispose of them, human, and consider yourself lucky.
  
• *like a Jedi mind trick* "The bed is for the caaaaaaats." The bed is for the caaaaaa-- WAIT!! It's working! No! Beds are for humans!
  
• "The dog is a total idiot." No, the dog is sane. That's the big difference.
  
• "Of course I didn't sleep all day." I call BULLSHIT! When I come home to my house and my cats are all inexplicably warm... it takes no great leap of logic to conclude they have been sleeping in the afternoon sunlight for hours.
  
• *another Jedi mind trick* "You must let me stay with you in the baaaaaathroom." Contrary to their belief, they will not perish if you don't let them watch you pee and bathe. But I'll admit, on more than one occasion I have broken down and let my cats join me. It seems like a trivial thing to make them content.
  
• "I'm a direct descendant of 'Bagheera', of the Jungle Book." Just because they are black cats does not mean they are children of an actual black panther of Asia of Africa. Warning, though, this is a big blow to their ego.
  
• "I still haven't eaten, human." This sounds familiar.
  
• "I own you." Well, maybe not such a lie.

What lies do they tell YOU?

Sarah

Day 30- Excursion

Today I had a doctor's appointment in the big city... oh yeah, that's right! Pueblo, Colorado! And my sister (I call her Emmy) went with me. We had a pretty freakin' good time! My appointment was at two so we left town a little before noon. We decided I would drop her off at the mall to shop and hopefully get a hair cut while I was at my appointment, and I would join her later.

The Pueblo Mall has a Master Cuts so Emmy proactively went online to see if she could book an appointment ahead of time. The problem? No openings until Monday the 14th! We were pretty puzzled why it was early January and they were totally swamped at Master Cuts... it's sort of odd timing. But she decided to try anyway.. she just wanted a trim!

The drive up went just fine. We jammed out to a burned CD, her singing well, me shrieking the lyrics. We talked about all our plans for the afternoon.. when you live in Raton, a day in the big city is pretty exciting. To HAVE CHOICES of where to eat and shop... it's pretty stellar.

Just pulling into Pueblo, off to the side of the road over by some big businesses, there was this huge group of cars bumper to bumper. The line went on forever! We weren't sure what kind of procession it was, or where they were all going.
I leaned over in the front seat. "Hey," I muttered, "That must be the line for Master Cuts."
Emmy snorted and swatted my arm.

LUCKILY she was able to get her hair trim with no problems whatsoever. It turns out the online calendar can't really be trusted.

My appointment went very well, and I met up with my sister at the mall. We shopped for a long time! And then we headed to Target. Pretty much everything on my list was pet-related. You see, my cats' absolute, all-time favorite brand of cat crunchers is... FRISKIES INDOOR DELIGHTS!! And I can't always get them here in Raton so I bought a huge bag. Target was already decked out for Valentine's Day and Emmy bought me a bag of Hershey's kisses. She's pretty cool like that.

I took approximately 3 minutes and thirty seconds in Barnes and Nobles, for a Game of Thrones calendar.. I get one every year.

We dined at Olive Garden and it was delicious. An odd thing did happen, though. I drank way too much water and had to visit the ladies room. I saw in the first stall, a pair of boots kind of pointed at the toilet, which is, obviously, the wrong direction for common women's bathroom etiquette. I wondered absently if she was sick or something, but there were no signs of puking. I was washing my hands when the woman emerged from the stall, looking sheepish.
"Hi," I said awkwardly. ACE has me trained to greet perfect strangers. It's kind of funny and kind of bizarre.
"Hello," she said and held out her hand. Car keys! "Dropped them right in," she laughed kind of hysterically. "At least it wasn't my phone!"
I left her as she began washing them off. One was an electric car key and it made me cringe to see her hold it under the faucet, but I guess it had already had it in the toilet.

Emmy and I jammed out to the same CD on repeat the whole way home. When she dropped me off at my house, Mose squealed from the back yard. It was a "Where the hell have you been???" cry that kind of tugged at my heartstrings and made me laugh at the same time.

I have new pants to wear tomorrow!

Sarah

Day 29- Grandma Remembered

Today was my Grandma's memorial service and it was really, really nice.

Monty McGowen officiated and did a great job. He spoke about my grandma and he spoke about my grandpa too, and their years together. About their businesses and family.

After the service, we met at KBobs, and out came the stories. People sat at tables here and there, swapping stories about Gram and Gramp, and ACE and Coast to Coast. My aunt did an amazing job of compiling books of photos and memories, things that my grandma had held onto, things she valued.

Naturally, it made me think about my grandparents a lot. I remember wanting to learn how to sew, so my Gram got out an embroidery hoop, needle, and thread and helped pencil out a design to follow. I sat at her kitchen table and worked at it for good 20 minutes before I realized I had been embroidering right onto her kitchen tablecloth! She just thought it was funny.

When I was younger, I was especially gullible when it came to my Grandpa. Whenever I went to their house for lunch, we sat at the table, me with my back to a window. Lunch after lunch, he would point at something behind me and exclaim, and like a dope I would excitedly turn to see the moose or eagle or whatever he thought of that day. When I turned back around, he would have stolen my drink, or my fork, or sometimes my whole damn plate. I would pretend to be annoyed and he would laugh and laugh.

A very long time ago, Gram and Gramp drove my sister and I out to Nebraska to see relatives, and it was quite a trip! I learned how to swim on that trip! And we talked Grampa into trying a Fruit Roll-Up and he took a big bite... without knowing you have to take the plastic off first. On the way home, we got pulled over, and while Gramp and Gram were talking casually to the police officer, I drew a portrait of the man. That police portrait stayed on their fridge for a long time.

A couple years ago, I was driving my Gram from ACE to her house and she was reading me something- a letter or a magazine or something. And I marveled at how just hearing her voice took me back.. it made me feel younger, like when I would lean into her side, sitting on the couch, reading books together. Her voice was just so familiar.

And Grampa taught me to play cards... but he CHEATED!! One more than one occasion, I caught him, literally, with cards up his sleeve. And he would just cackle.

It's memories like these that will stay with me forever, and I will love them forever.

Today was a beautiful service for a beautiful person.

Love, Sarah

Day 28- Pure Poetry

Today was a very normal Tuesday. Tomorrow is my Grandma's memorial service. My sister gave me a pretty dress to wear, because I want to look nice for Gram. I'm glad we're having this service because I know a lot of people knew her, liked her, cared for her.

I have no real thoughts for a blog tonight, so I'm gonna treat you all to some of my poetry.

WHAT!!! you gasp. Poetry? Sarah? Well before you get yourself into a tizzy, it's not quality poetry, and I didn't write it to be poetic, if that makes any sense at all.
We'll start slow. I wrote this a verrrrrrrrrrrry long time ago. Think 6ish. I was a huge Space Jam fan and you might notice similarities between my poem and R, Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly."

"I wish I could fly.
I wish I could soar across the sky.
Every night and every day I wish I could fly,
but, instead, I sigh."

Thank you, thank you, please hold the applause.

The next ones are much more recent, inspired by pets.

Do you know "On a Bicycle Built for Two"? Here:

TO THAT TUNE, I have written two different versions. This is Sheldon's:

"Sheldon, Sheldon, you are a handsome cat.
Yes, I said it! What do you think about that?
You are a good looking kitty,
You're cool and nice and witty,
But by my word, you sound absurd
When you cry like a little brat."

And Mose's:

"Mosey, Mosey, what are you up to now?
Oh, you drive me crazy, kind of like Mad Cow.
You are a handsome bupper, 
I bet you'd like some supper,
But goodness me, You're totally
Colored like a milk cow."

See, this is why I don't write poetry.

But another one, to the tune of "Santa Baby":

"Otie, baby, slip a squeaky under the tree for me,
You been an awful good girl, Otie baby.
So let's get you a chew stick tonight."

And one last Otis one, to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot":

Oat's a pretty puppy, 
yes she is,
She is my best friend
Nicknamed "Tiss"

All I can say is, you're welcome. :)

Sarah

Day 27- Ahhhhhhhh

Tonight I watched "Titanic", which is an awesome, moving film, but not the cheeriest.

So I thought I'd make a list of things that make me feel good and content!

• Replacing old light bulbs. Especially when the bulb has been out for quite some time. Suddenly. BAM! You have all this light you weren't aware existed. You know, if you want to get deep, that could absolutely be a metaphor for other aspects of life!
  
• Selecting a perfume for the day. Every day, I dress and spritz on a little perfume. I'm kind of a perfume fiend and I have A LOT of bottles, so it all comes down to my mood that day.
  
• Making mental and physical lists, especially schedules, and following them to the letter or minute. Drives my dad and sister absolutely crazy because when things aren't exactly like I planned, I get anxiety, to the point of panic. This post started as a list.
  
• Making Mose do his one set of tricks: Sit, Shake! and praising him like he's an absolute genius. It warms my heart because he's not the brightest crayon in the box, but I've taught him this set of tricks and he KNOWS it! All that's left is if he WANTS to. I rub his ears and pet his head and say, "Who's my smart boy?!" and he gets a hit of contentment as well.
  
• The absolute basics: eating when hungry, drinking when thirsty, sleeping when tired, peeing when ya gotta go! Basics are the BEST.
  
• Playing something on the piano or bass and just NAILING it. There's this zone you can get into when you're jamming sometimes and it's pretty awesome. Your fingers never get klutzy and awkward, but sweep over the keyboard of frets.
  
• Scooping Shelly up and bouncing him around like a baby until he purrs. I think he likes it as much as I do.
  
• Having newly dyed hair. When the color is deep and rich I feel pretty.
  
• Rereading things I've read and actually liking them a lot. Makes me feel like I'm on the right track. It makes me proud.
  
• Finishing a book and setting it down, letting the words consume you, totally swept away. And then you find out there's a sequel!

Hey guys, we made it through Monday!

Sarah